SUN 11/1: Veggies, Art, Rock, Blues, Writing

Everyone has told you, but did you remember to move your clocks back an hour? Stay out an hour later tonight, and you won't even feel it...

It's just a dollar over $10, so I have to mention that Future of The Left is playing at TT's. If you liked McLusky, two of the guys are in this band. It's got the same attitude but the third apparently added a big part of the charm. (They made Wales proud...)

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SUN 11/1

10am to 4pm
Annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
At Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont St, Boston (near Roxbury Crossing T)
FREE

There are a lot of free samples and -- as a guy who eats meat -- 99% were delicious when I went. As with most of these free public events, it's best to go early to avoid the crowd -- BUT some people might not realize that they added a Sunday session this year.

A majority of exhibitors seem to be food-related. Other tables are selling or distributing stuff that might appeal to the modern vegetarian.

Make the trip to Roxbury worth more than organic ice cream or peanut butter and listen to some ideas about health, nutrition, or vegetarian holiday entertaining.

SUN 11/1

Noon to 6pm
Annual South Boston Open Studios
At Various Locations in Southie
FREE

When I went down to the Southie Open Studios, someone asked us where we were from. When my lady said, "Cambridge," she asked if we brought our passports. Those Southie townies are so funny!

That stop isn't on the schedule this year, and the artists in The Distillery are just as damn cool and eccentric as you'd expect. There's a lot of cool people doing interesting work in there. You might even see the remnant of decadent Halloween parties...

I had my fill of art after that building, but there's more to see. You could even start at Norman Crump's studio and go the other way...

SUN 11/1

1pm to 4:30pm
Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead
at Peabody Museum, 11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge (Harvard campus)
$9 / $7 seniors, students / $6 under 18

Dia de los Muertos has always seemed cooler than Halloween. The skeleton artwork edges out lame costumes in my book. The activities and presentations are geared towards kids, but it's cool stuff. The cost above is admission to the museum, which is connected to the Harvard Museum of Natural History so you can also see the glass flowers and crazy fossils, etc.

(For an extra $5, you can make a 'sugar skull'.)

Every Sunday, MA residents can get in for free until noon...

Do we even need to say this is SO much better than "Boondock Saints 2"?!?

SUN 11/1

Benefit for Danny Hauser
Superpower (11:15pm), The Flooding (10:20pm), Chinstrap (9:20pm), Dashboard Jesus (8:20pm), Totem (7:30pm), Derek Rando (7pm)
at Church, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston (Fenway)
$10 /21+

Do you remember the story of of Danny Hauser? He was the kid from Minnesota who had Hodgkin Lymphoma; he and his family didn't want to go forward with the most current medical treatment. When they ran away for a while, there was some conjecture that Billy Best (who works at Church) was hiding them. (Maybe he helped; he offered.)

For Billy, he survived without chemotherapy. Danny went back home and has been improving with conventional treatment. Whatever works, but the Hauser family is racking up major medical bills. If you want to rock out and help out at the same time, this is the show. Totem and Derek Rando have got some decent stuff, and the rest of the bands throw down the hammer in a hardcore way. Especially SuperPower is a force to experience.

The above times may be off, but this is based on the venue schedule.

Of course there will be raffles and a silent auction with cool stuff including Obama inauguration prints signed by Shepard Fairey.

SUN 11/1

8:30pm
Ten Foot Pole Cats, Mr. Nick & The Dirty Tricks, The Tokyo Tramps, Li'l Stevie and The Westsiders, The Mighty Houserockers
at Johnny D's, 17 Holland St, Somerville (Davis Sq)
$7

For 3 weeks, you've got company for the "Sunday blues"... The Boston Blues Society is hosting "Blues Challenge 2009" with 10 bands competing for the blues finals on 11/15 to represent New England at the "International Blues Challenge" in Memphis. It should be a good time for the equivalent of "American Blues Idol".

You could go early for the weekly blues jam with Monster Mike Welch that starts at 4:30pm.

SUN 11/1

12:01am
National Novel Writing Month
at any keyboard you can find
FREE / 13+

Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Ever needed a thinly veiled excuse to get your story out? NaNoWriMo!

The idea is to write. Keep writing all month, and end up with 175 pages or 50,000 words by the end of the month. Write, write, write! Edit it in December.

It doesn't cost anything to sign up on the website, but donations are gladly accepted. If you do it, there's a sense of accomplishment. If you don't make it all the way, then at least you've got something to work with...

Even if it's crap, it's better than watching most of the shit on TV.